Tag Archives: Recipe

The Great Caper

Someone’s given me a huge jar of capers, those little green ‘berries’, which are not an ingredient I reach for very often.

Capers As far as I know, they’re usually sprinkled on pizzas and in sauces for fish, although I do remember using them once in a veggie dish with aubergine, onions, celery, green olives and tomatoes – caponata, a bit like a Sicilian version of the French ratatouille but without courgettes and peppers.

Try this Skate with Capers recipe taken from Just One Pot. It’s easy to prepare, very quick, tastes wonderful and is pretty healthy!

Actually, you don’t see either caponata or ratatouille very much any more, do you? I wonder why. They’re both delicious on their own, and go with meat or pasta. Perhaps they’re just known by another name.

I was also wondering what capers actually are so I looked online and it turns out they’re the unopened flower buds of Capparis spinosa , which is a prickly Mediterranean plant, and they’ve been used in cooking for thousands of years.

So I’ll have to start getting inventive. One thing I read is that if you soak them in water for a few minutes, that gets rid of the very salty, vinegary taste. So I tried that, and it does, and then you can include them with anything – they’re quite nice mixed with baked beans and can liven up a salad.

Don’t try this at home!
After getting through this lot, we’ll either be heartily sick of them or hooked. Don’t think I’ll be trying to grow my own, though. Apparently, it’s easy to confuse them with another plant, caper spurge, which has similar flower buds, except they’re poisonous.

All the best.

Marion
Dairy Diary Team

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Easter Biscuits

Traditionally, Easter biscuits are made with currants but this version is made with wild blueberries. Watch out though – one mouthful and you’ll be hooked!

15 minutes preparation time plus chilling
18 minutes cooking time
81 Kcal per biscuit
4.1g fat per biscuit of which 2.5g is saturated
Makes 24–6 biscuits
Dough is suitable for freezing
Suitable for vegetarians

Plain flour 175g (6oz)
Mixed spice 1 tsp
Butter 110g (4oz)
Caster sugar 110g (4oz), plus extra for sprinkling
Lemon 1, grated rind
Wild blueberries 75g (3oz) (see Cook’s Tips)
Egg 1, beaten

1 Sift the flour and spice into a large bowl. Add slivers of butter and then rub it in with your fingertips. Stir in the sugar, lemon rind and blueberries and then add the egg and mix to a firm dough.

2 Knead the dough briefly on a lightly floured surface and shape into a sausage about 20cm (8in) long and about 5cm (2in) wide. Wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for an hour or in the freezer for half an hour.

3 Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/ Gas 4 and lightly grease a large baking sheet. Unwrap the chilled dough and cut into 5mm (1⁄4in) thick slices. Put them on the baking sheet, spaced a little apart.

4 Bake the biscuits for 15–18 minutes until they are pale golden in colour. Cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes, sprinkle with a little caster sugar and then transfer the biscuits to a wire rack to cool.

Cook’s tips
•The wild blueberries in this recipe are semi-dried and they are available in tubs in the same fixture in the supermarket as the dried fruits.
•Use currants or add orange rind if you like.
•For a more fancy biscuit, roll out the dough and cut with a shaped cutter.

Recipe taken from Year Round Dairy Cookbook

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Celebrate National Dairy Week

National Dairy Week, 21 – 27 February, is here to highlight how important milk, cream, cheese, butter and yoghurt are to a healthy diet.

Interesting, but with two small children I have already learnt that any dairy-based food is popular with them.

From yorkshire puddings to pancakes; cheese sauces to custard; the more old-fashioned the recipe the more popular it seems.

Rice pudding is a family favourite when we haven’t got through our milk quota quite as quickly as normal. I usually use a recipe from the Just One Pot recipe book, but last month I spotted the Blueberry Rice recipe in the Dairy Diary. You have to boil the rice first – has anyone tried it yet? Is it as good as letting the pudding slowly cook in the oven?

Dare I deviate away from the predictable? Let’s all be brave and give a different dairy dish a go this week! Try Blueberry Rice today.

Karen
Dairy Diary Team

P.S. My milkman is a saint. Through the recent period of snow and ice, when no cars were travelling up or down our hill, he still delivered. He was the talk of the community was Mr John Hudson.

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Blueberry Rice

Delicious rice pudding that’s low in calories!

Serves 6
Time 1 hour 40 mins
Calories 168 per portion
Fat 5g of which 2.0g is saturated
Suitable for vegetarians

Pudding rice 50g (2oz)
Eggs 3, beaten
Caster sugar 50g (2oz)
Vanilla essence ½ tsp
Milk 600ml (1 pint)
Dried blueberries 40g (1½oz)
Ground nutmeg pinch
Single cream to serve, optional

1 Preheat oven to 170°C/325°F/Gas 3. Cook rice in boiling water for 10 minutes, drain well.

2 Beat eggs, sugar, vanilla essence and milk together. Add blueberries and rice.

3 Pour into an ovenproof dish. Sprinkle with nutmeg. Stand in a baking dish containing enough hot water to come halfway up sides of dish. Bake for 1½ hours or until set. Serve with single cream, if using.

A Dairy Diary recipe

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Eve’s Pudding

A wonderfully comforting pudding. Use Bramley apples for best results.

Eve’s Pudding

This tasty apple dessert is sure to be a winner with everyone! A Dairy Book of Home Cookery recipe.

CLICK HERE FOR RECIPE

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Oriental Chicken Stew

This Chinese-style dish is low in fat but certainly not low in flavour. The ginger and soy sauce give a subtle kick to the taste of the other ingredients.

Preparation time 15 minutes
Cooking time 15 minutes
Calories per portion 313 Kcal
Fat per portion 6gof which saturated 1g
Serves 4
Suitable for freezing

Olive oil 1 tbsp
Skinless chicken breasts 4 x 110g (4oz), cubed
Garlic 2 cloves, peeled and crushed
Root ginger 2.5cm (1in) piece, peeled and grated
Reduced salt soy sauce 1 tbsp
Vegetable stock 350ml (12fl oz)
Carrots 2 large, peeled and cut into strips
Mangetout 75g (3oz), trimmed and sliced lengthways
Spring onions 8, trimmed and sliced
Cornflour 2 tsp
Straight-to-wok noodles 300g (11oz)

1 Heat the oil in a large frying pan or wok and add the chicken, garlic, ginger and soy sauce. Fry gently over a low heat for 8–10 minutes, stirring, until the meat has browned all over.

2 Add the vegetable stock and carrots and cook for 3 minutes. Then add the mangetout and spring onions and cook for a further 3 minutes, until the vegetables are just tender.

3 To thicken the sauce, mix the cornflour to a smooth paste with a little water. Add to the stock and bring to the boil, stirring.

4 Meanwhile, cook the noodles following the packet’s instructions. Strain the noodles and use to line four warmed bowls. Spoon the chicken and vegetables over the top and serve immediately while hot.

Cook’s Tip
Jars of ready chopped ginger are available in the herb and condiments section of the supermarket. It is a lot easier to use than rootginger!

Recipe taken from Hearty & Healthy, Dairy Cookbook.

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Tag Archives: Recipe

The Great Caper

Someone’s given me a huge jar of capers, those little green ‘berries’, which are not an ingredient I reach for very often.

Easter Biscuits

Traditionally, Easter biscuits are made with currants but this version is made with wild blueberries. Watch out though – one mouthful and you’ll be hooked!

Celebrate National Dairy Week

National Dairy Week, 21 – 27 February, is here to highlight how important milk, cream, cheese, butter and yoghurt are to a healthy diet.

Blueberry Rice

Delicious rice pudding that’s low in calories!

Eve’s Pudding

A wonderfully comforting pudding. Use Bramley apples for best results.

Eve’s Pudding

Oriental Chicken Stew

This Chinese-style dish is low in fat but certainly not low in flavour. The ginger and soy sauce give a subtle kick to the taste of the other ingredients.

Don’t miss exciting competitions, new recipes and exclusive offers!

Someone’s given me a huge jar of capers, those little green ‘berries’, which are not an ingredient I reach for very often.

Share this:

Traditionally, Easter biscuits are made with currants but this version is made with wild blueberries. Watch out though – one mouthful and you’ll be hooked!

Share this:

National Dairy Week, 21 – 27 February, is here to highlight how important milk, cream, cheese, butter and yoghurt are to a healthy diet.

Share this:

Delicious rice pudding that’s low in calories!

Share this:

A wonderfully comforting pudding. Use Bramley apples for best results.

Share this:

This Chinese-style dish is low in fat but certainly not low in flavour. The ginger and soy sauce give a subtle kick to the taste of the other ingredients.

Share this:

Don’t miss exciting competitions, new recipes and exclusive offers!